She Let it Fall
by CrystolConeticut
Summary: Troy and Abed are much closer to Annie, and apparently have helped her get over her feelings for him. Jeff doesn't like this. Not one bit. Sort of anti- Jeff/Annie, but eventual Jeff/Annie. T to be Safe.
1. I let it fall

**Sort of Anti- Jeff and Annie. One- shot.**

_**I let it fall, my heart,**_

_**And as it fell you rose to claim it.**_

_**It was dark, and I was over,**_

_**Until you kissed my lips,**_

_**And you saved me...**_

JEFF

Jeff was smart. Some people didn't think he was, but you had to be to illegally practice law for ten years before getting caught, even if practicing law illegally was terribly ironic. So yeah, Jeff was definitely smart.

But the thing was, Jeff didn't really want to be. Sometimes he liked being smart, as it allowed him to dominate conversations and make witty remarks with lightning speed, but it wasn't really worth it. He wished he could be like Troy, who wasn't smart and didn't really care. Jeff was halfway there, as he didn't really give a shit about school. But, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't not be smart.

And he knew he was being crazy, that there was a ton of people who wished they were as smart as him (and why wouldn't they? Jeff was awesome; at least according to himself). But here was the thing: the smarter you were, the more was expected of you. Which brings him back to Troy. No one expected anything from _him._ If he got an F on an exam, no one would even bat an eye. But if, let's say, _Annie_ got an F on an exam, Jeff would pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming (which he was sure he wouldn't be, as his dreams of Annie rarely ever have anything to do with school; though they do occasionally involve some pinching. And yes, too much information).

Which brings him to Annie. Jeff looks up at her now at their study table. It's the first study session of the year, and she was wearing a short sleeve white cardigan (Jeff wondered why she never wore white. Was she afraid that it enhanced her body too much?) that was unbuttoned two buttons lower than usual (a fact that didn't escape Jeff's mind) with a purple pencil skirt (No tights, either; God either loved him enough to give him a nice view or hated him enough to enjoy watching him pine over a much younger, much much _much _more innocent person whom he would never have). Needless to say, she looked incredibly sexy. Jeff shook his head, as he couldn't believe he'd thought that someone wearing a cardigan was sexy.

Jeff looked around at his study group, genuinely baffled at how anyone could be looking at anything but her right now. But, no, they were all studying (or at least pretending to), seemingly unaware that an angel sat no more than five feet away from them.

Jeff shook his head again, as he couldn't believe he'd just called someone an angel (in his mind), and that it hadn't even been a pick- up line.

Jeff looked at Annie's face, which was the same as every day, but, nevertheless, beautiful. Right now, it was blank as she studied. Almost peaceful. Wait, no. That couldn't be right. Annie's face was _never _totally blank when she studied. Sure, to the human eye, it seemed to be, but Jeff had been a lawyer (yes, the 'had been' part stung a little to admit), so he had become quite good at reading expressions. He knew that her brow always furrowed just a little bit, because she was afraid that if she couldn't memorize that one phrase that she would fail a quiz. And then fail a test. And then fail an exam. And then fail the class. And then fail out of college. And then, well, fail at life.

Jeff knew the feeling well.

When Jeff had been disbarred, he had panicked. Sure, on the outside he seemed cool, but on the inside, he was racking his brain on what to do. How could he maintain his lifestyle without a job? How could he maintain his reputation when he attended a community college?

Jeff wondered if Annie would have been able to read his expression just then. Jeff didn't know if Annie was good at reading expressions, but she always seemed to know what he was thinking. Would she have realized that he was in trouble? Would she have offered to help?

Anyway, back to the present (if he had said that out loud Abed would have commented on how that wouldn't have made a plausible movie franchise, as even if you are in the past, wherever you are is your present, so it would have been utterly pointless). Jeff knew how Annie slightly furrowed her brow when she studied. Jeff knew that sometimes she furrowed them slightly more and set her jaw. She would raise her eyes slowly to make sure that no one was watching her at that moment (Jeff would always bring back his gaze to his Spanish book when she did this, pretending to study) and then she would silently flip her Spanish pages (Annie was the only person Jeff knew who could flip pages silently; she'd probably learned how to do that so that she wouldn't distract herself from whatever deep thinking she was in) to the glossary. She would then draw her nail across the page until it stopped at a certain word and it's definition. Her expression would become relieved for a second, and then the furrowing would come back in full force as she pulled out one of her stack of index cards (which she, oddly enough, kept in a playing cards box) and wrote the word and definition. She would then highlight the card (Jeff didn't know the specifics of why she used what color she did, it could have been alphabetical, or level of difficulty, or part of speech. Jeff didn't even know why he was thinking about stupid things like this. Oh yeah, because they had to do with Annie, and everything that has to do with Annie is absolutely fascinating) and stick it neatly in the page where it was needed. She would stare at the page for a few more seconds, and then flip the page and move on.

If only life was that way. If only Jeff could just flip the page and there would be something totally fresh and new in front of him. No more community college. No more living in his cramped apartment. No more studying or crazy adventures. Don't get him wrong, he loved his friends (some more than others), but he didn't like certain qualities about them. Pierce was annoying (though, that wasn't really a problem anymore seeing as Pierce was no longer a part of their group). Shirley was so sweet she induced cavities. Troy thought that it was all about him(Jeff was aware that he also thought this about himself, but the difference is, it _is _all about him).

You might think that Jeff finds Abed's constant meta-ness/ obsession with cougar town irritating, but no, he can deal with those things. What he can't deal with is that Abed a) always knows what everyone is thinking and feeling, and b) he has the ability to look at everything from an outside-looking-in view. He can take a situation and make a decision based solely on what is right, not what _feels_ right. He doesn't let emotions rule his life, and Jeff respected him immensely for that. But, he was also envious of it. He wished he coul-

"Jeff? We have to go."

Jeff looked up, interrupted out of his ponderings, right into the doe eyes of the girl who had been the subject of most of his thoughts. Jeff looked around to see if anyone was watching them (he usually did this whenever he and Annie shared a 'moment'; he didn't like people seeing them together because he was afraid they'd think he was a creepy old man) and saw Troy and Abed exchange a look, and then walk out of the room.

Jeff frowned. What was _that _about?

He looked at Annie again, wondering if she'd seen it. When all he was met with was an empty seat, he realized that she'd already left the room, and he had an epiphany. He thought back to more than a year ago at the Tranny Dance when Annie said she was leaving for the summer with Vaughn, then confided in Jeff that she was actually moving there. Jeff had been absolutely shocked, and he actually had thought about telling her how he felt. But what was he supposed to do, whisper 'I love you' when she leaned in for a good-bye hug? And then there was the whole kiss and the Britta thing and awkwardness, and he just never had the chance.

But he did now.

Jeff laughed at his utter stupidity. There was no 'right' or 'wrong' time, there was just Jeff being insecure for one of the first times in his life. He could tell her right now if he wanted to.

Wait, he _should _tell her right now. Yes, he had to tell her right now before he chickened out. He looked out the door to see her walking away with Troy and Abed, and quickly got out of his seat and went after her, psyching himself up the whole way.

"Annie!" Jeff called out, and man, it wouldn't have sounded cliche except he'd said it in a totally cliche way.

Annie turned around a few seconds before Troy and Abed simultaneously did. Man, that was creepy.

"Yeah?" She asked, looking at him questioningly.

"I- uh, have something I need to talk to you about." He said quietly.

Her expression didn't change. "Shoot." Troy and Abed looked between each other and then back at Jeff.

That was when the whole situation hit Jeff full- force. He'd been too focused on confessing his love for Annie before to notice this, but there was definitely something weird going on here. Troy and Abed were standing so close to Annie that she was squished between them like they were a sandwich, and Troy and Abed were looking at him almost menacingly. Troy was crossing his arms so that his biceps bulged out and Abed was just doing that thing he does where he tilts his head and sees right through you, threatening him mentally rather than physically.

Jeff looked from them to Annie, and was surprised at her expression. Usually she looked at him with looks of longing, or loving, or, well, _caring _at least. But right now she looked totally indifferent, as if she didn't give a rat's ass what he was saying.

Jeff finally took the whole situation in as a whole and suddenly felt like he was sixteen again, and was going to pick up one of his first girlfriends, Dianne, on their first date. He'd knocked on the door and was greeted by her twenty- year- old very muscular twin brothers. He'd had the courage to face them then, and if he could do that then, why couldn't he do it now? Especially when the guys were more than a decade younger than him?

It was just that much weirder when you knew the people, and when you knew what they were capable of. Troy had beat up a dude with a plastic reindeer, Abed had figured out that he and Britta had been having secret sex, and Annie, well... she packed a mean right hook.

Seriously, did they think he was going to beat her up or something? Jeff was starting to feel really uncomfortable.

"Jeff, whatever you're trying to resolve, can you please speed up the process? Annie has class." Abed said from his spot on the right of Annie.

Oh, so he was talking for her now? That just made him so angry. And the weird thing was that he didn't even know why; the feeling was just overwhelming him. He just felt so... so...

"It can wait." Jeff whispered. Annie shrugged and Troy gave him a curt nod as they all turned and walked down the hallway.

**Ugh, crappy ending. Song at the beginning was supposed to show what their relationship used to be. **

**What do you think, should I make it a two- or three- shot? Please review!**

**-CC**


	2. It was dark

Okay, I got some requests for a second installment, so here you go! This explains pretty much everything going on with Troy and Abed, and I've decided to continue it after this. There will be eventual Jeff/Annie, but for now there will be some (sexually charged) hatred, so be prepared.

No Jeff in this chapter, sorry

Also, this chapter doesn't have song lyrics, but every one after this will, I promise.

ANNIE

Annie turned the corner with Troy and Abed and breathed a huge sigh of relief, leaning against the wall for support.

Troy and Abed stopped as well, and both gave her a high- five. "You did it, Annie!"

Annie smiled, even though she was hurting just the tiniest bit. "I know! How was I?"

"Great, awesome! Wow, I can't believe we pulled this off!" Troy exclaimed, smiling.

"Yeah… listen, guys, I'm sorry for talking to him in the study room. It was just out of instinct, and as soon as the words left my mouth I knew that I shouldn't have said anything. Especially when I saw the 'look' you two exchanged." Annie bit her lip.

"Actually, I think that you talking to him contributed to your character growth monumentally. If you had just ignored him, he would have figured something was wrong, and tried to pry. It's good that you talked to him, because now you can _really _give off that cool indifference that, ironically, _Jeff _(along with characters such as Barney Stinson and Draco Malfoy) is known for having." Abed explained in his own Abed terms.

Annie nodded slightly, knowing he was just trying to help in his own Abed manner. "Okay, let's get to Biology, guys. We're going to be late."

Troy and Abed nodded and the trio all set off in the direction of the Biology Lab.

Annie smiled to herself. She was glad that Troy and Abed were there for her; she'd never had any siblings or older friends to look out for her before, and she liked the feeling of being protected.

Not that she needed protection from Jeff. He obviously wasn't going to hurt her (at least not physically, anyway), she just needed… help getting over him. And so Troy and Abed had agreed to help her out.

It had all started in June. Annie and Abed had decided to have a talk about their kiss (well, more like make out session) and Annie had prayed that this time that they were on the same page, feelings- wise. At least more on the same page than she and Jeff had been.

They were. They talked about being _somewhat _attracted to each other (which you think would be weird to talk about with someone, right? Well, that was the good thing about Abed. You could talk to him about anything), but it was Han Solo that she had been drawn to and Princess Leia that he had been drawn to. They agreed that they should just stay friends, and that while neither regretted the kiss (it wasn't a _mistake _in either's eyes), it was best to just put it all behind them.

And they talked about other things, too. They discussed summer plans (neither really had any), which somehow turned back into a conversation about Star Wars, which turned into a discussion about whether Ewoks were adorable or just weird and disgusting ('Aww! They're so cute!' '…You take that back right now'), which turned into them watching Return of the Jedi at Annie's apartment, just to see if the other would change their opinion upon seeing the furry, sweet, teddy bears ('They're not teddy _bears_.. they're teddy- bear _like _hunter gatherers'). Needless to say, no one's mind was changed.

Abed left about five hours after he and Annie had started talking, and Annie was smiling. She'd actually had fun. Abed said that 'We should do this again sometime', and it didn't feel like when people said that to friends and they ended up not hanging out again; it felt like he really meant it. Annie thought about how many times she'd laughed during those five hours (probably twenty; but that was just a ballpark estimate) and how many times the word 'discretion' had come up (zero) and heartily agreed.

A week later, Abed had come over to Annie's apartment with The Phantom Menace (Annie's favorite in the series). Then next week with The Empire Strikes Back (it was surprisingly not awkward for them when Han and Lei kissed).

A month later, when they were finally done watching the entire saga and holiday special, Annie had insisted that it was now necessary to have an all- day movie marathon and watch each episode in order. Abed politely asked if he could bring Troy along, as he hadn't been hanging out with him as much as he wanted to lately, and Annie readily agreed. Troy was her friend, and the more the merrier, at least as far as she was concerned.

They ended the night with their sides about to burst from laughter. Annie was pretty sure she hadn't stopped smiling the entire time. She invited them over again to watch Pulp Fiction a few days later, and again they ended the night in laughter. Troy and Abed could really make anything hilarious.

Pretty soon they were hanging out nearly every day, having movie and tv show marathons; with the occasional round of fork jousting and Annie couldn't have been happier. Annie had felt like she didn't have a lot of friends as of late, and it was nice to know that there were two guys who cared about her. One day, as they were eating popcorn and watching _Twin Peaks _(Annie had never seen it before they started hanging out; now she was addicted) a conversation came up about their current living situations.

_*Knock knock*_

"_I'll get it!" Troy volunteered, getting up from the couch._

_Annie's eyes widened. "No!" She grabbed Troy's arm and gave him a warning look._

_Troy blinked a few times in surprise and Annie bit her lip._

"_Don?" She called out. "Is that you?"_

"_Annie, open this door right now." A stern man's voice called from the other side of the door._

_Annie let go of Troy's arm and swallowed, slowly moving towards the door. Troy gave Abed a 'wtf?' look before they both turned back to Annie._

_She'd reached the door now, and she took a deep breath before pulling it open._

_Don barged right in and paced the length of the living room. "Annie, we had an agreement. You said you would have the rent by _today. _No more excuses."_

_Annie sighed. "I know, Don, and I'm really sorry. Just give me one more week; I'll pay any kind of interest, really!"_

_Don shook his head. "I would like to, Annie, but I real-" He paused, just then noticing that Troy and Abed were also in the room. _

_Don gestured to the two of them. "Who the hell are these guys?"_

"_I'm Abed, and this is Troy," Abed introduced. "We're watching _Twin Peaks_. It's become sort of a ritual. Annie became hooked at the start of the Audrey/Cooper storyline*, which really indicates her disposition towards our friend Jeff-"_

"_Abed!" Annie shrieked. He cocked his head in a way that made her realize that she'd revealed more by saying something than Abed would have if she hadn't._

"_I don't care if you guys are having an orgy in here." Don waved Abed off. Annie blushed. He turned his attention back to Annie and held out his palm._

"_I don't have the rent, Don." He lowered his arm and let out an exasperated sigh. "It's just really hard to find a job..." Annie weakly tried to come up with an excuse._

"_I told you that I'd be happy to give you a job at Dildopolis!" Don waved his hands as if the solution was simple. Annie rolled her eyes and blushed even more. _

_Don nodded his head thoughtfully. "Ya'know, a girl like you would actually be really good for business…"_

"_I'm not working at Dildopolis! I'll have the rent tomorrow Don, I promise."_

_Don ran his hands through his thinning hair. "Tomorrow, Annie, and that's final." _

_He walked out, slamming the door shut behind him. Annie walked back to the couch and sat down quietly. Troy and Abed just watched her; they'd seen enough tv to know that a huge moment of character insight was coming, and they weren't going to miss the chance to analyze it. And help her, of course._

_Sure enough, Annie burst out crying not ten seconds later. Troy and Abed simultaneously reached out to comfort her, settling for her resting her head on Troy's shoulder while Abed wrapped his arm around her._

"_I just d-don't know w-what I'm g-going to d- do you guys!" Annie wailed. She reached for a tissue and tried to wipe her eyes dry. She sniffled and started to calm down. "I mean, I guess I could take out another loan from Spaghetti, but he-"Annie shuddered. "-_expects things _in return. Not like sex or anything, but drugs and stuff. And stolen toys from Dildopolis."_

"_You steal from Dildopolis?" Abed gave her an inquisitive look._

"_You _shop _at Dildopolis?" Troy raised his eyebrows._

"_No, I don't shop there! I only go in because Spaghetti asks me to steal stuff for him in return for him giving me money." Annie tried to defend herself._

"_Spaghetti's into dildos?" Troy asked, becoming more confused by the second._

"_No. Well, he might be, I don't know, but they sell other stuff there. They sell, like, movies and handcuffs and dolls and-"_

"_- He's homeless, I doubt he has a tv." Abed pointed out, because of _course _that's the first thing that he noticed. "Also, you seem to be strategically avoiding my question about you stealing."_

"_Well, they deserve it! First of all, that store is disgusting. I can't go in there without seeing… _things. _Things that burn my eyes. Also, the guys in there all look at me weird. Second of all, the rent here is outrageous. How else am I supposed to pay it?" Annie asked desperately._

_Abed patted her shoulder comfortingly. "If it makes you feel better Annie, my home situation isn't exactly a cakewalk. I usually live with my dad in the summers, but he says that if I want to keep living there then I need to get rid of some of my DVDs. He's making me choose between Cheers and Friends." Abed stated sadly._

"_Yeah, mine's pretty bad too. It's really weird living with Pierce now that he's not a part of the group anymore. He's still letting me stay and stuff, but he's been super distant and keeps calling me 'boy'." Troy added._

"_Well, I can't make rent and my neighborhood is really dangerous, so I guess we all have awful home lives!" Annie yelled, still in hysterics._

_Abed and Troy mumbled their agreement. The trio was silent for a second before they simultaneously reached the same conclusion._

"_We should move in with you!" Troy and Abed called out._

"_You should move in with me!" Annie called out._

_They all nodded eagerly._

"_This would be the solution to all of our problems," Abed supplied. "It would solve Annie's financial problems, and she would be safer with us living here. Also, I could get away from my dad and you could get away from Pierce."_

"_So it's settled then!" Annie exclaimed excitedly. "You guys are moving in!"_

_They all nodded and got back to watching _Twin Peaks_, this time with slightly more hope (and _Twin Peaks_ is a pretty dark show, so that's saying something)._

_Troy and Abed left shortly after. They had packing to do._

"We'll walk you to your next class after, okay?" Troy asked as they reached the Biology Lab.

Annie nodded as they walked through the doors.

The teacher- who wasn't there yet, which Annie thought was pretty unprofessional. They weren't even that early; their teacher should have been there by that time- had posted a seating chart on the board as well as the list of lab partners.

Annie looked at the chart and her heart sank yet rose at the same time. She was partners with Jeff, which meant that she not only had to sit next to him the whole year, she also had to work on every single lab project with him for the rest of the year.

Just her luck.

_*Audrey Horne and Special Agent Dale Cooper were known for having the most chemistry out of any pairing on Twin Peaks; however, they never became a couple on account of his objections because of their age difference. She was a high school senior and he was in his thirties._

**Wow, I hate this ending. Eh.**

**As you can see, this chapter was more of just a filler; background info.**

**There **_**will**_** be Jeff next chapter, I promise. As well as some J/A UST **

**-CC**


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